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Scientists at HHMI Janelia Research in Virginia and Google Research mapped the entire brain of an adult male fruit fly, cataloging 166,000 neurons and 25.6 million connections, which they made available online on September 3rd. This digitized neural network was then used to play chess against a highly advanced AI model; remarkably, the fruit fly's brain achieved checkmate in just 11 moves. Beyond chess, users applied the neural data to create various projects including trading cryptocurrencies and simulating arcade games, showcasing the versatility of mapping biological brains digitally.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Scientists at HHMI Janelia Research in Virginia and Google Research have mapped all 166,000 neurons and 25.6 million connections in an adult male fruit fly's brain, making the data downloadable online on September 3. This breakthrough has enabled various creative projects: a chess engine powered by the fly’s neural network beat Claude Opus 5, one of the most advanced AI models available, delivering checkmate in just 11 moves. Another project called Stonkfly uses the fly's brain to simulate trading cryptocurrency; it experiences simulated dopamine rushes when profitable trades occur.
Written for “AI Chess Challenge Defeated” on 2026-10-04,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
The lowly fruit fly just beat one of the world’s most advanced AI models at chess.
asserted
fly → beat → chess
That’s just one of dozens of wild experiments that have gone viral since scientists fully mapped the neural pathways of an adult male fruit fly — whose entire brain fits on the head of a pin — and posted the data online.
asserted
brain → ’ → data
The threshold-crossing technology, achieved by HHMI Janelia Research in Virginia and Google Research, catalogued all 166,000 individual neurons and 25.6 million connections in the fly’s brain and made it downloadable on Sept 3.
asserted
it → cross → Sept
Inventive nerds then used the digitized neural network to power and navigate a wide variety of contraptions, apps and games.
asserted
nerds → use → contraptions
Creator Maxime Labonne hooked the mapped pathways up to a chess engine and pitted it against Claude Opus 5, which is one of the most advanced AI models on the market.
asserted
which → hook → market
The fly delivered a checkmate in just 11 moves.
asserted
fly → deliver → moves
One engineer created a project called Stonkfly — giving the entity a $100 portfolio and creating a way for it to trade crypto currency.
asserted
it → create → currency
The program simulated dopamine rushes for the fly when it made money on a trade for positive reinforcement.
asserted
it → simulate → reinforcement
A Stanford student created a fighting game where she controlled one digital fly and the neural network controlled another digital fruit fly — and battled it in a king-of-the-hill style competition.
asserted
network → create → competition
She lost all 12 bouts.
asserted
She → lose → bouts
The fly has also hit the casino in a program called FlyJack.
asserted
fly → hit → program
One engineer created a blackjack game for the fly-brain bets against a dealer.
asserted
engineer → create → dealer
But the fly’s success varies — like all gamblers — each time you run the experiment.
asserted
you → vary → experiment
Other users plugged the neural network into a variety of homemade robots, such as animatronic cats, crab-like walkers, and small drones.
asserted
users → plug → cats
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